In recent years, a considerable need has been recognized for anti-counterfeiting devices and systems for use on a variety of articles including trade-identified goods. Problems of lost sales may be compounded by loss of goodwill resulting from inferior counterfeits. Even erroneous product liability exposure may develop in relation to counterfeits. Specific forms of anticounterfeit devices and systems are disclosed in the parent patent application hereto, Ser. No. 276,282, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,415 entitled "Non-Counterfeitable Document System". While such devices and systems have been determined to be quite effective in combatting counterfeit operations, meaningful problems continue to plague merchandisers, which problems are somewhat related to counterfeit operations. Specifically, for example, such problems may develop when anti-counterfeit tags or labels are stolen or otherwise obtained and used to improperly authenticate counterfeit or unauthorized goods.
After an anti-counterfeit device is securely affixed to genuine goods, culpable activities may still present problems in relation to the proper movement of goods through approved channels of commerce. For example, the quantity of goods acknowledged to be received by a retailer may not coincide to the quantity of goods indicated to have been shipped to the retailer by a distributor. Without detailed information, compromise is routine in such situations. Somewhat related problems, as stolen merchandise, tend to occur at various points as units of merchandise move into the channels of commerce. Without positive identification of individual units, tracing missing units is exceedingly difficult if not impossible. Of course, positive identification of goods is important in several other aspects as shelf-life planning and control.
Another grave problem in the distribution of trade identified goods involves unauthorized diversion operations. For example, to maintain certain standards, a manufacturer may establish specific requirements for retail establishments that sell its merchandise. In the face of such provisions, it is not uncommon for an authorized retailer to unload sizable quantities of merchandise, sometimes at a discounted price, to a retailer that does not meet the minimal standards. Again, without the ability to positively identify and trace individual units of merchandise, it is difficult if not impossible to identify the culpable source of the diverted merchandise.
In view of the above considerations, it may be seen that as trademarked or trade identified units of merchandise flow into the channels of commerce, such merchandise is plagued by counterfeits, diversion problems, pilferage, short counts, and a variety of other culpable activities. In addition to a need for a system for combatting such problems, a need exists for a practical system for selectively obtaining data on merchandise at various distribution points, as for use in market and product planning.
The present invention is based upon recognizing the need for a system to provide select detailed information in relation to marketing operations for specific units of merchandise and particularly to enable positive recognition of the units of merchandise that have gone astray. In a broad sense, the present system includes some form of anti-counterfeit verification devices associated with individual units of merchandise. Such "association" may be as a label or tag affixed to a unit of merchandise, or as a package element, or even as part of a unit. Within the system, the devices each bear a unique machine-readable identification number which is machine read, as by an optical code reader, to activate the system to develop and provide data on the merchandise. As disclosed in detail below, the system is organized to interrogate and maintain a memory carrying data on individual products. A logic of subset testing is implemented in the system whereby critical information on individual units may be obtained. The system is effective for obtaining data on merchandise of concern (stolen, lost, and so on) rather than accounting for merchandise of little concern that is properly moving through channels of commerce.
The invention hereof is briefly summarized as a system using a tag for auditing the movement of individual units of merchandise in commerce. Each tag is associated with a specific unit of merchandise and is imprinted to indicate a specific identification for the unit of merchandise and the batch or set of units to which the individual unit of merchandise belongs. As the unit of merchandise moves into commerce (normally along with others), its movement is designated as with respect to locations and customers. Such information is stored in a memory. The historical movement of the unit may then be traced by addressing the memory with specific logic combinations, e.g. "identify all units of a specified batch set shipped to a specific location". Thus, logic combinations of batch set data, locations, customers and so on enables selective tracing of individual units of merchandise that may be of particular concern.
As disclosed in detail below, the physical system and method hereof may be variously implemented using different forms of verification devices and apparatus. For example, verification devices may comprise a wide variety of sheet materials embodying different formats and variously attached to units of merchandise; or such devices may comprise part of an actual unit of merchandise or its package. Various forms of optical readers or sensors can be used to read or sense identifications. Furthermore, a wide variety of coding formats may be utilized for identifying the goods, authenticating the goods, and tracing the goods. Also, depending on specific merchandising problems, various logic systems can be implemented to perform the set-theory operations in obtaining the selectively meaningful data of a subset of merchandise units.